Fiber laser mode locked by carbon nanotubes-N-methyl-2-pryrrolidone solution in fiber microchannel

We demonstrated an Erbium-doped picosecond fiber laser mode locked by carbon nanotube in N-methyl-2-pryrrolidone solvent in an in-fiber micro-channel. © 2011 Optical Society of America.

Carbon nanotubes for ultrafast fibre lasers

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) possess both remarkable optical properties and high potential for integration in various photonic devices. We overview, here, recent progress in CNT applications in fibre optics putting particular emphasis on fibre lasers. We discuss fabrication and characterisation of different CNTs, development of CNT-based saturable absorbers (CNT-SA), their integration and operation in fibre laser cavities putting emphasis on state-of-the-art fibre lasers, mode locked using CNT-SA. We discuss new design concepts of high-performance ultrafast operation fibre lasers covering ytterbium (Yb), bismuth (Bi), erbium (Er), thulium (Tm) and holmium (Ho)-doped fibre lasers.

Isolator-free switchable uni- and bidirectional hybrid mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser

An Erbium-doped fibre ring laser hybrid mode-locked with single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT) and nonlinear polarisation evolution (NPE) without an optical isolator has been investigated for various cavity conditions. Precise control of the state of polarisation (SOP) in the cavity ensures different losses for counter-propagating optical fields. As the result, the laser operates in quasi-unidirectional regime in both clockwise (CW) and counter-clockwise (CCW) directions with the emission strengths difference of the directions of 22 dB. Furthermore, by adjusting the net birefringence in the cavity, the laser can operate in a bidirectional generation. In this case, a laser pumped with 75 mW power at 980 nm generates almost identical 790 and 570 fs soliton pulses with an average power of 1.17 and 1.11 mW. The operation stability and pulse quality of the soliton pulses in both unidirectional regimes are highly competitive with those generated in conventional ring fibre lasers with isolator in the cavity. Demonstrated bidirectional laser operation can find vital applications in gyroscopes or precision rotation sensing technologies.